The Billionaires: The Bosses

by Calista Fox

  Bayli wondered if that was because they both needed to put new terms on the table—ones that distinctly defined the love triangle that had formed between them and Rory.

  Finally, Christian told her, “I’d like to move our dinner from tomorrow night to Thursday, if you’re available.”

  “I am.”

  “In the meantime, I have your contract in the car. I want you to look it over once more before you sign. I know you’ve already discussed the high points with your agent and you’ll want to read the fine print. I’ll give you time to do that.”

  “You know me well enough to know I’ll read it line by line.”

  He grinned. “Twice.”

  “Yes.”

  They stared at each other a bit longer. She was dying to ask how he felt about her being with Rory the night before, what his reaction was to seeing that video of his friend and business partner kissing her on the street. What was really going through his mind now that he knew that Rory had fucked her?

  But it felt too vain or too premature. She wasn’t sure which. She wasn’t sure if there was any sort of issue with either man regarding her becoming romantically involved with both of them.

  And was she really romantically involved? She’d never even gotten around to cooking dinner with Rory.

  Bayli nervously rocked back and forth on the soles of her Skechers before biting the bullet and asking, “By signing, am I committing to more than just a cooking show?”

  He let out a low, strained laugh. “Whatever happens when the cameras aren’t rolling, Bayli, is your own business.”

  “Just my business?” She dragged a hand from her pocket and pulled off her sunglasses. Brazenly looked him in the eye. “Was that just a one-night stand with us?”

  “No,” he was quick to say.

  Her breath caught.

  “At least, not from my perspective,” he added.

  Her skin tingled at his heated gaze, his pointed expression.

  She swallowed hard and pushed a bit more. “What about Rory? Was he just curious about me because you’d had me before him?”

  “You’d have to ask Rory that question.”

  Her gaze didn’t waver. She sensed it was imperative she stand her ground and not withdraw the inquiry or sweep it under the rug. She was already waist-deep in murky waters. Best to know what the undertow might be like, because the current continued to tug at her.

  Yet Christian didn’t appear as though he was going to cave.

  So she prompted him by saying, “I thought he was interested in me when we first met. The way he looked at me was … fiery. Exciting.”

  Christian nodded. “He did mention your incredibly sexy legs when I was on the phone with him on our drive back into the city Saturday night.”

  “So you knew from the beginning that he was attracted to me.”

  “Of course.”

  “And there’s no sort of … competition … between you two? Where I’m concerned.”

  Christian let out a long breath. He wrapped an arm around her waist and directed her down the sidewalk. The intimate gesture sent a sizzle along her spine. There was no denying she’d become addicted to both men’s touch from the onset.

  “It’s not a competition,” Christian told her. “We tend to share an interest in the same women. Granted, it’s been a while, what with all the work it took to launch the steakhouse.”

  “And by share, you mean…?”

  His head dipped and he whispered in her ear, “You know exactly what I mean.”

  “Yeah. I do.” Still, she had to clarify a few things. “So, given how busy the two of you have been lately, you don’t currently share a … girlfriend? Is that the right word?”

  He grinned again. “Yes, that’s the right word. No, we aren’t simultaneously involved with anyone. Except you.”

  “But you’re not really involved with me,” she stated the obvious that had popped into her head minutes before. “Not by the standards you’ve defined. Just … individually. And even that’s debatable, especially after last night with Rory.” She huffed a little. “God, he must think I’m such a twit.”

  “Hardly.”

  “I walked out on him, Christian.”

  “That’s between the two of you. Fixable,” he insisted. “If you want it to be.”

  If I want it to be …

  A shiver chased through her. On the one hand, yes, she wanted to make amends with Rory. To prove she actually wasn’t naïve. To prove that she’d been as into the sex as he’d been; she was just behind the curve experience-wise.

  Bayli had been enticed by the idea of a threesome from the time she’d met Christian. Now that she’d been with both men, she was even more intrigued. What had happened with Rory was a setback, a bit of an embarrassment, admittedly. But when she’d woken this morning—around ten because she’d been sleeping off a hangover—she’d had a distinct vision of what she really wanted.

  It was perfectly in line with what Christian described when it came to his and Rory’s sexual preferences. They liked to pleasure the same woman. She wanted to be that woman.

  An extremely easy scenario in her mind.

  The reality of it, however, was a bit more complex.

  First there was the fact that she was on the outs with Rory. Yet again.

  Then she had to dig a bit deeper to accept what the ménage would entail. She couldn’t delude herself into believing it would have nothing to do with anal sex.

  Perhaps it was time to have a graphic conversation with Jewel.

  Provided what Christian had said was accurate—was the situation with Rory fixable?

  He had to be pissed at her. And she didn’t blame him for it. He’d been open and honest. He’d even said he’d teach her, that they’d take it slow. He hadn’t forced anything; he hadn’t ribbed her because she’d balked. Instead, when they’d ended up sprawled on the floor with him still inside her he’d taken a liking to that position and was fine with it.

  She would have been, too. If she hadn’t been such a spaz.

  She and Christian reached the stretch Jag and the chauffeur opened the back door. Christian indicated for her to slide in before him. She settled in the seat while he extracted a large envelope from his laptop bag and handed it over.

  “The contract. Actually, there are multiple copies to sign. Obviously your agent can answer any questions, but if you want me to specifically clarify anything, just call me. Anytime, day or night. All of my numbers are in the packet.” His jaw tightened again. “Just call my cell. I’ll pick up immediately.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “I want to do that.” He leaned in close and kissed her. Softly, sweetly. As though he was testing the waters after all that had happened. So much of which had gone awry.

  But then his tongue delved deep, sweeping over hers, and Bayli forgot all about the contracts and the astronomical salary that had been proposed and the fact that all of her professional dreams were about to come true.

  All she could think about was how wonderful Christian tasted—like expensive scotch. He’d had a drink with lunch? Perhaps he’d needed a stiff cocktail when Rory had told him of their fallout.

  She didn’t know. Didn’t care at the moment. Her arms slipped around Christian’s neck and she pressed her chest to his, loving the feeling of his rigid muscles against her, reveling in the way he embraced her so tightly. Again, with that feverish intensity, like he couldn’t get close enough to her. Couldn’t get enough of her.

  Only now there was more of an edge to his kiss, to his touch.

  He shifted and pulled her into his lap, so she straddled him. This time, Bayli did not freak. Granted, he wasn’t inside her, but still.

  His hands gripped her ass and he ground his cock against the apex of her legs, the seam of her jeans rubbing her clit, making her restless.

  Her fingers practically yanked the buttons of his shirt from their holes, and then she tore her mouth away and kissed his throat, his collarbone,
his pecs. His skin was hot. She was hotter.

  Her palms flattened against the grooves of his abs and she thrilled over his sculpted perfection. His cut muscles were longer and leaner than Rory’s bulky, chiseled physique. The contrast was an exciting one and she thought of how amazing it would be if she were sandwiched between them, her front pressed to Christian’s, Rory at her back. Their hands and mouths all over her body. Christian kissing her so deeply, the way he expertly did. Rory biting his way along her neck, marking her as he’d done last night.

  Christ, when she’d seen those hickeys in the mirror after Colin had teased her about them she’d felt a jolt in her core as though Rory had been with her at that very moment to darken the marks by sucking harder.

  She moaned at the memory, at the sensation that sparked in her pussy over the thought of Rory branding her while Christian’s tongue tangled with hers. It would rock her world. No doubt about it.

  Christian gently tugged at the pins in her hair so that the thick mass tumbled around her shoulders and across his chest. She vaguely felt the smooth easing away of the limo from the curb. She didn’t know if the driver was just arbitrarily taking a spin to give them privacy or if he had a specific destination previously provided by Christian. It didn’t matter. Bayli was caught up in the moment, and the only thing that could make it better was if they were both naked.

  Well, that and if Rory were there with them.

  Her crotch rubbed a bit more aggressively against Christian’s as she let her mind wander, let the fantasy take hold. Her lips skated over his rippling flesh, feeling the flexing and releasing beneath her touch. She flicked her tongue over his nipple and then suckled it. Christian’s fingers plowed through her hair, tightening around the long strands.

  “I want to feel that tongue on my cock,” he told her in a low, hoarse tone. “But when I come, it’s going to be inside you.”

  Bayli slipped between his parted thighs. Unfastened his pants. Slid the zipper down its track. Her hand cupped the bulge straining against his boxer briefs, the heel tenderly rubbing his sac.

  He groaned. “I knew exactly what Rory was trying to tell me when he said he’d fucked things up with you.”

  She glanced up at him. “He said he fucked things up?”

  “Yes.” Christian’s fingertips tenderly caressed her scalp, her hair still twisted around his fingers so that they pulled lightly in an arousing way. Every fiber of her being was aroused.

  “How does he figure?” she asked as she worked the briefs and his pants down Christian’s lifted hips so that his cock sprang free of the confining material. His beautiful, thick cock that she instantly craved to taste, to devour.

  “He wanted too much from you, too soon.”

  Bayli let that tidbit simmer in the back of her head as she succumbed to the temptation of silky skin covering steel. She slowly grazed Christian’s shaft with her tongue from root to tip. Felt the jarring deep within him at her wicked touch. Her tongue swirled around the slight indentation of his cockhead and then whisked lower to trace the groove underneath.

  He hissed out a breath.

  She closed her mouth over him and suckled. Not taking him in any farther than his very tip. Using her tongue to stroke languidly.

  “He didn’t say you liked to tease.”

  Bayli didn’t take the bait. Kept up her playful toying with him. Christian knew she was good for follow-through; she’d already proven that to him. At the moment, she was mostly enthralled with the pulsing of his cock and the staccato beats of his breath.

  “Why do you think you know exactly what Rory was trying to tell you when he said he wanted too much from me, too soon?” She blew softly against Christian’s skin that was deepening in color with his arousal. His hips bucked. She couldn’t resist licking him from base to tip again.

  “Fuck.” His tone was jagged—as though Bayli were actually working some sort of magic on him, revving him with her simple tonguing, her light breaths on his throbbing cock. In a cagey tone, he said, “Because when I was buried inside you, I was thinking of a dozen other ways I wanted you. All wrapped around making you come, making you scream my name. Making us come together … Damn.”

  Her hand stroked his cock as she peered at him from under her lashes. “Making us all come?”

  The primal sound that slipped through his lips ignited her insides.

  “Christian,” she said on a heavy breath. “That’s hot.”

  She took him deep in her mouth. Sucked him hard while fisting him at the root with one hand and carefully rolling his balls with the other. A technique that had Christian’s hips jerking and his breaths coming in sharper pulls. A technique she’d not had the opportunity to share with Rory; he’d put a stop to her foreplay much too soon.

  Because he’d wanted her.

  With erotic thoughts bursting anew in her brain, she sucked one more time—fiercely enough to evoke a violent tremble from Christian—and then released him.

  “Goddamn,” he growled.

  She sat back on the seat across from him. Every bit of her vibrated from a new empowerment coursing through her.

  “That’s not a look I’m used to seeing from you,” Christian commented as he eyed her closely. “What’s on your mind?”

  Her inner walls were doing some sort of eclectic dance that had them clenching and releasing in a heated frenzy, and her chest heaved of its own accord, giving her away. Damn that part of her body that couldn’t control itself.

  She said, “I really want to give you a ‘happy ending,’ Mr. Davila.”

  He smirked at her sassiness.

  “But the thing is…” She glided the pad of her finger along the corner of her mouth to whisk away any lip gloss that had smeared. “You and Chef St. James got the chance to weave your little web. Quite a sticky one, I might add.”

  She made a bold move for the phone tucked into the sidewall, and when the driver came on the line she told him, “You can pull over now, please.”

  Bayli replaced the receiver as Christian watched her with a crooked brow at her sudden take-charge attitude.

  She said, “You’ve hooked me, clearly.” She snatched the envelope he’d brought with him. The car came to a halt. Bayli reached for the handle and shoved the door open. Over her shoulder, she told Christian, “Now it’s my turn to do the same.”

  TWELVE

  “You did not say that!” Jewel erupted—thankfully before taking a sip of wine.

  “Yep. Then I just slipped from the limo and strode off. As though I didn’t have a care in the world.”

  Bayli had played it cool with Christian on Monday afternoon. Unfortunately, her insides had been a rioting mess as she’d briskly wound her way through foot traffic on the sidewalk, wondering if he was going to come after her and foil her little power play.

  Though instinct had told her that he would understand she’d needed to bring the ball into her court. Not that it fully and truly was there—she knew damn well two men of Christian’s and Rory’s influence and experience were the ones in control. But Bayli needed to possess some of it herself. So she’d made the split-second executive decision not to give Christian exactly what he’d wanted from her in the back of that limo.

  If she was going to run with the big dogs, she was going to have to get her ass off the porch and go for it.

  Which reminded her …

  “Hey,” she said as Jewel did a quick survey of the apartment and nodded encouragingly, good friend that she was. “Can I ask you some questions about your relationship with Rogen and Vin? They might be a bit delicate.… Just a heads-up.”

  “Sure.” Jewel was a statuesque blonde who’d worked as a Senior Vice President of Acquisitions for her family’s empire before she dove into her own project of building an inn and winery in River Cross. She inspected the large floral arrangement in the center of the glass-topped table with the thick scrolled wrought-iron legs in the corner. “This is so pretty.” Her gaze swept over the entire place and she added, “Really,
Bay. It’s all so pretty, what you’ve done with the place. I was a little worried when you first moved in.”

  “Liar. You were a lot worried.”

  “That’s because I love you.”

  “I love you, too. Now…” Bay took a long sip of the merlot she’d uncorked for Jewel’s surprise visit on Wednesday evening—the very bottle she’d intended to take to Phillip and Colin’s dinner party. “I seem to have found myself in the extremely fortuitous position of having two men who are close friends and accustomed to sharing women find me…”

  Jewel’s brow jerked up. “Worthy of sharing?”

  “Yes.”

  Jewel set her glass on the small coffee table in front of the love seat, then grabbed Bayli’s hand and pulled her over to sit. “From one lucky girl to another, let me just say—”

  “Wait.” Bayli took another deep sip before setting her glass next to Jewel’s. “I’m not a lucky girl yet. Well, in many respects, yes. But not in that ultimate way you’re thinking of. We haven’t done it yet. I mean we have. Just not—”

  “All together. The three of you. At one time.”

  “At one time.” Bayli reached for her wine and swallowed down another big gulp. Not exactly classy, but hell … she was dealing with some heavy shit here.

  Jewel rested a hand on Bayli’s knee and said, “Dear friend of mine, I completely get the nervousness and the reservations. I experienced all of that myself. It’s totally natural. More than that, it’s warranted. Just thinking back to that first time in my living room when I kissed Rogen and then Vin.” Her lovely features softened, but Jewel’s sapphire eyes lit with fire. “Rogen stripped his shirt off. And I popped every single button on Vin’s—shredded the flap. I couldn’t help myself.” She sighed dreamily. “God, they were so incredible to look at. And they both wanted me. It was in their eyes, on their faces. Their muscles bunched. Their breaths grew heavier.…”

  Jewel had to reach for her wine, too. She sipped, then continued. “I knew I’d reached a point of no return. I’d sort of instigated it, to be honest. I’d heard whispers of their secret ways with women. I wanted to be one of those women. No.” She licked her bottom lip and gave Bayli a sly look. “I wanted to be their only woman.”